DISPUTED MOTHERHOOD FATHERHOOD PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT IN RUSSIA. CHILD’S PARENTS. CHILD'S DESCENT

Important Disclaimer

The below Family Law text on motherhood and fatherhood (paternity) establishment in Russia should be used for information purposes only and appropriate legal advice should be sought as and when appropriate.

For legal advice on a Russian child’s descent and his parents (motherhood and fatherhood establishment) in Russia contact Mr Maxim POLYAKOV, your Russian qualified lawyer, member of the Moscow City Bar Association, tel. +7-495-518-72-62, email maxim@arbitratus.ru (English or Russian).

The Family Code of the Russian Federation

Chapter 10. Establishment of Children's Descent

Article 47. The Ground for the Arising of the Rights and Duties of Parents and Children

The rights and duties of parents and of children shall be based on the children's descent, certified in the law-established order.

Article 48. Establishment of the Child's Descent

Federal Law No. 140-FZ of November 15, 1997 amended Article 48 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation. See the previous text of the Article

1. The descent of the child by his mother (the motherhood) shall be established on the ground of the documents, confirming the mother's giving birth to the child in a maternity hospital, and in the case of the child's being born not in a medical centre - on the ground of medical documents, or of the witness testimony, or of other proofs.

2. If the child was born of the married persons, and also in the course of 300 days from the moment of the dissolution of the marriage or of its being recognized as annulled, or from the moment of the death of the spouse of the child's mother, the mother's spouse (ex-spouse) shall be recognized as the child's father, unless otherwise is proved (Article 52 of the present Code). The fatherhood of the spouse of the child's mother shall be certified with an entry on their marriage certificate.

Federal Law No. 140-fz of November 15, 1997 excluded Item 3 of Article 48 from the Family Code. Items 4 and 5 are deemed Items 3 and 4

3. The fatherhood of the person, who is not married to the child's mother, shall be established by way of filing a joint application by the father and by the mother of the child with the registry office; in case of the mother's death, of recognizing her as legally incapable or of the impossibility to identify the place of her stay, or in case of her being deprived of the parenthood - by an application of the child's father, with the consent of the guardianship and trusteeship body, and in the absence of such consent - by the decision of the court.

If there exist circumstances, which give grounds to suppose that the filing of a joint application on establishing the fatherhood may prove to be impossible or difficult after the child's birth, the unmarried parents of the future child shall have the right to file such an application with the registry office during the mother's pregnancy. The entry about the child's parents shall be made after the child's birth.

4. The establishment of the fatherhood with respect to a person, who has reached the age of 18 years shall be admitted only with his consent, and if he is recognized as legally incapable - with the consent of his guardian or of the guardianship and trusteeship body.

About the Application by the Courts of the present Code of the Russian Federation in the Examination of Cases on the Establishment of Paternity and on the Recovery of Alimony, see Resolution of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 9 of October 25, 1996

Article 49. Establishment of the Fatherhood in Court

If the child is born of the unmarried parents and if no joint application of the parents or of the child's father is filed (Item 4, Article 48 of the present Code), the child's descent from the specific person (the fatherhood) shall be established in court by an application of one of the parents, of the guardian (the trustee) of the child, or by that of the person, who keeps the child, and also by an application of the child himself upon his reaching 18. The court shall take into account any proof, which authentically confirm the child's descent from the specific person.

Article 50. Establishment in Court of the Fact of Recognizing the Fatherhood

In case of the death of the person who recognized himself as the child's father, but who was not married to the child's mother, the fact of his recognizing his fatherhood may be established in court according to the rules, laid down by the civil procedural legislation.

Article 51. The Entry of the Child's Parents into the Register of Births

1. The married father and mother shall be written down as the child's parents into the Register of Births upon an application of any one of them.

2. If the parents are not married, the entry about the mother shall be made upon the mother's application, and that about the father - upon a joint application of the child's father and mother, or by an application of the child's father (Item 4, Article 48 of the present Code), or the father shall be written down in accordance with a court decision.

3. If the child is born to an unmarried mother, in the absence of a joint application of the child's parents and in the absence of the court decision on establishing the fatherhood, the surname of the child's father in the Register of Births shall be written down as the mother's surname, and the first name and patronymic of the child's father - according to her statement.

4. Married persons who have given their consent in written form to the artificial fertilization or to the implantation of the embryo, shall be written down in the Register of Births if a child is born as a result of the application of these methods, as this child's parents.

The married persons who have given their consent in written form to the implantation of an embryo in another woman for bearing it, may be written down as the child's parents only with the consent of the woman who has given birth to the child (of the surrogate mother).

Article 52. Disputing the Fatherhood (the Motherhood)

1. The entry of the parents into the Register of Births, made in conformity with Item 1 and Item 2, Article 51 of the present Code, may be disputed only in court, upon the claim of the person who has been written down as the father or as the mother of the child, or of the person, who is actually the father or the mother of the said child, and also of the child himself upon his reaching 18, of the guardian (the trustee) of the child, or of the guardian of the parent, who is recognized by the court as legally incapable.

2. The claim of the person written down as the child's father on the ground of Item 2, Article 51 of the present Code, on disputing the fatherhood, may not be satisfied, if at the moment of making the entry this person was aware that he is not actually the child's father.

3. The spouse who gave his consent in written form, in conformity with the law established procedure, to applying the method of artificial fertilization or of the implantation of the embryo, shall not have the right to refer to these circumstances when disputing the fatherhood.

The spouses who have given their consent to the implantation of the embryo to another woman, and also the surrogate mother (the second part of Item 4, Article 51 of the present Code), shall not have the right to refer to these circumstances when disputing the motherhood and the fatherhood after the entry into the Register of Births is made.

Article 53. The Rights and Duties of the Children Born of Unmarried Persons

In establishing the fatherhood in the procedure, stipulated by Articles 48-50 of the present Code, children shall have the same rights and duties with respect to the parents and to their relatives as the children, born of married persons.

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Important Disclaimer

The below Family Law text on motherhood and fatherhood (paternity) establishment in Russia should be used for information purposes only and appropriate legal advice should be sought as and when appropriate.

For legal advice on disputed motherhood and fatherhood (paternity) in Russia contact Mr Maxim POLYAKOV, your Russian qualified lawyer, member of the Moscow City Bar Association, tel. +7-495-518-72-62, email maxim@arbitratus.ru (English or Russian).